Estranged DS & penalty fare

One DS, 27, doesn't live with us - very sadly estranged and with serious MH issues. Now, a letter has come for him from a railway company, fining him for not paying a railway fare in January and adding a whopping £70.00 admin fee. 14 days to pay, not appeal. (I preseme he was issued with a fixed penalty notice first - doesn't say). He never uses our address - hasn't seen us for a several years - was staying, as far as we know, with his DF who is one hell of a strange person. But he may well not be there now.

We've been worried sick about DS and now here he is - he's cropped up but in the form of a letter threatening prosecution if he doesn't pay up.

I have no wish to get him deeper into trouble (he may be in enough already). I also have no way of knowing where he is. Cards etc to him c/o my ex go unanswered.

If I phone the company, might I be able to pay for the unpaid ticket (£35.00) and ask them to drop the administration fee? It would be difficult for me to pay for this, unless I could do so in instalments.

They are highly unlikely to drop the fee. He's an adult. Just tell them he doesn't live at your address. They will probably abandon the debt. You don't need to pay it and if they track him down he can pay in instalments if he is on low income.